Fighting in Somalia Intensifies

(26 Sept 08 - RV) At least 12,000 people in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu have fled their homes in the past week because of intensified fighting. Also this week two Western aid workers were kidnapped by gunmen near Somalia’s boarder with Ethiopia. Kidnapping of foreigners and aid workers has become common in the country, where a transitional government is fighting Islamist insurgents in the south and clan militia rule large areas. Pedram Yazdi is the spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross Somalia delegation. He told us that although aid workers in the area are at risk, the local community understands the organization’s mandate to remain neutral while helping victims of conflict.